Packaging system to facilitate declarative model-driven development

ABSTRACT

The subject disclosure relates to a method and system for packaging a post-processed definition of a programming module. Contents of a constraint-based and/or order-independent execution model are received, in which the contents include a declarative source code. The contents are stored into an extensible storage abstraction such that the source code is stored in a declarative format. Metadata describing attributes of the contents stored in the extensible storage abstraction is also defined. A file is then created, which includes the extensible storage abstraction and the metadata.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/256,433, filed Oct. 22, 2008, entitled “PACKAGING SYSTEM TO FACILITATE DECLARATIVE MODEL-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/102,559, filed Oct. 3, 2008, entitled “A PACKAGING SYSTEM TO FACILITATE DECLARATIVE MODEL-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT,” wherein the entirety of each application is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure generally relates to a versatile and efficient method for packaging a declarative post-processed definition.

BACKGROUND

When a large amount of data is stored in a database, such as when a server computer collects large numbers of records, or transactions, of data over long periods of time, other computers sometimes desire access to that data or a targeted subset of that data. In such case, the other computers can query for the desired data via one or more query operators. In this regard, historically, relational databases have evolved for this purpose, and have been used for such large scale data collection, and various query languages have developed which instruct database management software to retrieve data from a relational database, or a set of distributed databases, on behalf of a querying client.

It is often desirable to author source code for such management functions in a declarative programming language. Unlike imperative programming languages, declarative programming languages allow users to write down what they want from their data without having to specify how those desires are met against a given technology or platform. However, current models authored in a declarative modeling language usually go through a series of tools that transform declarative definitions into various concrete implementation artifacts. Moreover, once a model is authored, it is typically compiled by a compiler so as to generate specific compiled artifacts after ensuring that the source model is error free. It would thus be desirable to have an extensible intermediate file system representation that packages declarative source and all its transformed artifacts together along the way.

Most programming languages that use static compilers have similar needs. For example, in .NET, assemblies fulfill this need. In a native code world, C/C++ language compilers have a notion of libraries. From another perspective, the Open Packaging Convention (OPC) format, as used in Microsoft Office 2007®, also serves a similar purpose.

Accordingly, there is a need for a modern declarative model driven development environment that defines a declarative model and then transforms it into various artifacts during its lifetime. The above-described deficiencies of current relational database systems and corresponding packaging techniques are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.

SUMMARY

A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a basic or general understanding of various aspects of exemplary, non-limiting embodiments that follow in the more detailed description and the accompanying drawings. This summary is not intended, however, as an extensive or exhaustive overview. Instead, the sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts related to some exemplary non-limiting embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description of the various embodiments that follow.

Embodiments of a system and method for packaging a post-processed definition of a programming module are described. In various non-limiting embodiments, a method includes receiving contents of a constraint-based execution model in which the contents include a declarative source code. The method further includes storing the contents into an extensible storage abstraction such that the source code is stored in a declarative format. Metadata describing attributes of the contents stored in the extensible storage abstraction is also defined. A file is then created, which includes the extensible storage abstraction and the metadata.

In another non-limiting embodiment, a system includes a receiving component, a processor, and a memory component. Within such embodiment, the receiving component is configured to receive contents of a post-processed definition, which include a declarative source code for an order-independent execution model. The processor is coupled to the receiving component and configured to convert the contents into an extensible storage abstraction such that the source code is preserved in a declarative format. The processor is also configured to define attributes of the extensible storage abstraction as metadata. The memory component is coupled to the processor, in which the memory component is configured to store the extensible storage abstraction and the metadata as a single file.

In yet another non-limiting embodiment, a method includes receiving contents of a declarative execution model, in which the contents include an M language source code for the execution model, and in which the execution model is constraint-based and order-independent. The method further includes configuring the contents into an extensible storage abstraction, in which at least a portion of the contents include a dependency, and such that the source code remains in a declarative format. The method also includes defining metadata, in which the metadata describes attributes of the contents configured in the extensible storage. And finally, the method includes creating a file, which includes the extensible storage abstraction and the metadata.

These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary process chain for a declarative model packaged by an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a non-limiting block diagram illustrating the runtime execution environment of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary non-limiting representation of a packaged post-processed definition according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an extensible storage abstraction according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a nominally typed execution system;

FIG. 6 is a non-limiting illustration of a type system associated with a constraint-based execution model according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for packaging a post-processed definition of a constraint-based execution model according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of data storage according to an ordered execution model;

FIG. 9 is a non-limiting illustration of data storage according to an order-independent execution model;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for packaging a post-processed definition of an order-independent execution model according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram representing exemplary non-limiting networked environments in which various embodiments described herein can be implemented; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram representing an exemplary non-limiting computing system or operating environment in which one or more aspects of various embodiments described herein can be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

As discussed in the background, among other things, conventional systems do not provide an extensible intermediate file system representation that packages declarative source and all its transformed artifacts together. Accordingly, in various non-limiting embodiments, the present invention provides a modern declarative model driven development environment defines a declarative model and then transforms it into various artifacts during its lifetime. As a roadmap for what follows, an overview of various embodiments is first described and then exemplary, non-limiting optional implementations are discussed in more detail for supplemental context and understanding.

In FIG. 1, an exemplary process chain for a declarative model packaged by an embodiment of the invention is provided. As illustrated, process chain 100 may include a coupling of compiler 120, packaging component 130, synchronization component 140, and a plurality of repositories 150. Within such embodiment, a source code 110 input to compiler 120 represents a declarative execution model authored in a purely declarative programming language. In a particular embodiment, the execution model embodied by source code 110 is constraint-based and/or order-independent.

In an embodiment of the invention, compiler 120 processes source codes 110 and generates a post-processed definition for each source code. Here, although other systems do compilation down to an imperative format, an aspect of the present invention is that the declarative format of the source code, while transformed, is preserved. Within such embodiment, the post-processed definitions include the processed source code and any of a plurality of designtime/runtime artifacts associated with the processed source code. Such artifacts, for example, may include artifacts based on dependencies to subsequent source models 110, other repositories 150, and/or external resources 142 (e.g., CLR assemblies).

In an embodiment, packaging component 130 packages the post-processed definitions as image files, which are installable into particular repositories 150. Within such embodiment, image files include definitions of necessary metadata and extensible storage to store multiple transformed artifacts together with their declarative source model. For example, packaging component 130 may set particular metadata properties and store the declarative source definition together with compiler output artifacts as content parts in an image file.

The packaging format employed by packaging component 130 may be configured to conform with the ECMA Open Packaging Conventions (OPC) standards. One of ordinary skill would readily appreciate that this standard intrinsically offers features like compression, grouping, signing, and the like. This standard also defines a public programming model (API), which allows an image file to be manipulated via standard programming tools. For example, in the .NET Framework, the API is defined within the “System.IO.Packaging” namespace.

In an embodiment, synchronization component 140 is a tool used to manage image files. For example, synchronization component 140 may take an image file as an input and link it with a set of referenced image files. In between or afterwards, there could be several supporting tools (like re-writers, optimizers etc.) operating over the image file by extracting packaged artifacts, processing them and adding more artifacts in the same image file. These tools may also manipulate some metadata of the image file to change the state of the image file (e.g., digitally signing an image file to ensure its integrity and security).

Next, a deployment utility deploys the image file and an installation tool installs it into a running execution environment within repositories 150. Once an image file is deployed, it may be subject to various post deployment tasks including export, discovery, servicing, versioning, uninstall and more. The packaging format provided here offers support for all these operations while still meeting enterprise-level industry requirements like security, extensibility, scalability and performance.

In an embodiment, repositories 150 are a collection of relational database management systems (RDBMS). Here, however, it should be noted that the default system catalog of many RDBMSs do not provide adequate assistance to manage deployment of image files themselves or their packaged contents. In order to address this limitation, data structures included within an image file may be extracted and used to populate an extended catalog so as to augment the default system catalog of such RDBMSs.

In FIG. 2, an exemplary model-driven development system, which targets a repository as its runtime execution environment, is illustrated. Within such exemplary system 200, a file system 210 may be synchronized, in designtime, with a repository 220 as shown. This synchronization allows references imported from repository 220 to be synchronized with file system 210. As such, an image file built/packaged by file system 210 may, for example, include imported source model files, designtime artifacts (e.g., source code files), and/or designtime/runtime artifacts (e.g., config files, XAML). In runtime, components in file system 210, which may include a repository package manifest file, built model files, runtime artifacts (e.g., assemblies), and/or designtime/runtime artifacts (e.g., config files, XAML), are then published to repository 220 as built models, built artifacts, and/or designtime/runtime artifacts.

In FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrating an exemplary non-limiting representation of an image file according to an embodiment of the invention is provided. Within such embodiment, an image file 300 includes a metadata section 310 and a contents section 320, as shown.

In an embodiment, the aforementioned data structures 312 used to populate an extended catalog are embedded within metadata section 310, as shown. Within such embodiment, data structures 312 may include metadata describing the image file contents (aka package parts), as well as the image file header and manifest.

For some embodiments, the image file header and manifest section includes the necessary attributes that define the image file header and manifest. Such attributes may include a package signature, which may be used to uniquely identify a package, as well as a table of contents that lists the packaged contents within an image file. Package inter-dependencies may also be included to form an ordered chain of inter-related packages. For some embodiments, timestamps e.g., reflecting the date and time an image file was created), localization information (e.g., to store cultural information like locale to make an image file universally useful), and source references (e.g., to keep backward references to the source declarative models) may be included. Other attributes may also include versioning attributes (e.g., major version, minor version, servicing version etc. to support various versioning related scenarios), operational attributes (e.g., to define options like compression, signing status, etc.), and custom attributes (e.g, to assist with extended information for custom use).

In an embodiment of the invention, metadata describing the image file contents may include information about artifacts stored in the image file. These individual artifacts along with their metadata attributes may also be termed as package parts. Exemplary metadata for describing a packaged artifact may include: a unique Uri that serves as the item name and provides a structure to the items in the package much like the file system directory structure; a string identifying the content type of the data stream (e.g. MimeType); operational attributes that tell the state of an artifact (e.g. whether the artifact is in a compression state); and command attributes that allow tools like loaders to custom handle an artifact.

Referring back to FIG. 3, contents section 320 is now described. In some embodiments, content section 320 includes the actual content intended for a repository, along with any supporting artifacts. Within such embodiments, these contents may be stored within extensible storage 322 as a plurality of tables, as shown.

In another embodiment, contents stored in extensible storage 322 may include reference identifiers. In FIG. 4, an exemplary illustration of an extensible storage abstraction having such identifier is provided. For this particular example, a table 400 is created from the following M code:

-   -   Chris {Name=“Chris”;         -   Age=“25”;         -   Address=“26 ELM ST”;         -   Photo=0xFEE}             As illustrated, table 400 may include Name column 410, Age             column 420, Address column 430, and Photo column 440. Within             such embodiment, entries corresponding to Name column 410,             Age column 420, and Address column 430, might be visible to             a particular RDBMS, whereas entries corresponding to Photo             column 440 might be opaque and simply seen as a “blob.” Such             opacity provides a more efficient system in which the blob             (e.g., a picture file, audio file, etc.) may be referenced             in a single cell within Photo column 440, and where the             actual blob might be stored as a packaged artifact and/or an             externally stored entity. However, because the targeted             RDBMS might not know how to interpret the blob's reference,             an extended catalog may be embedded within the image file to             augment the RDBMS's default catalog.

It should be appreciated that, although the particular embodiment above describes referencing a blob within a single cell, another embodiment may store the blob's contents within a plurality of cells. For example, if the blob is a picture file, each cell may represent a particular pixel. As such, the photo may be stored as a plurality of pixels in which a user may query the pixels via SQL commands.

In one embodiment, the methods described herein are operable with a programming language having a constraint-based type system. Such a constraint-based system provides functionality not simply available with traditional, nominal type systems. In FIGS. 5-6, a nominally typed execution system is compared to a constraint-based typed execution system according to an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, the nominal system 500 assigns a particular type for every value, whereas values in constraint-based system 600 may conform with any of an infinite number of types.

For an illustration of the contrast between a nominally-typed execution model and a constraint-based typed model according to a declarative programming language described herein, such as the M programming language, exemplary code for type declarations of each model are compared below.

First, with respect to a nominally-typed execution model the following exemplary C# code is illustrative:

class A { public string Bar; public int Foo; } class B { public string Bar; public int Foo; }

For this declaration, a rigid type-value relationship exists in which A and B values are considered incomparable even if the values of their fields, Bar and Foo, are identical.

In contrast, with respect to a constraint-based model, the following exemplary M code (discussed in more detail below) is illustrative of how objects can conform to a number of types:

type A {Bar: Text; Foo: Integer;}

type B {Bar: Text; Foo: Integer;}

For this declaration, the type-value relationship is much more flexible as all values that conform to type A also conform to B, and vice-versa. Moreover, types in a constraint-based model may be layered on top of each other, which provides flexibility that can be useful, e.g., for programming across various RDBMSs. Indeed, because types in a constraint-based model initially include all values in the universe, a particular value is conformable with all types in which the value does not violate a constraint codified in the type's declaration. The set of values conformable with type defined by the declaration type T: Text where value<128 thus includes “all values in the universe” that do not violate the “Integer” constraint or the “value<128” constraint.

Thus, in one embodiment, the programming language of the source code is a purely declarative language that includes a constraint-based type system as described above, such as implemented in the M programming language.

In FIG. 7, a flow diagram illustrating a process for packaging a post-processed definition of a constraint-based execution model, according to an embodiment of the invention, is provided. As illustrated, the process begins at step 700 where a constraint-based execution model is received. Within such embodiment, the received constraint-based execution model is a compiled post-processed definition of the model's source code. Contents of the post-processed definition may include the model's source code, along with any post-processed artifacts. In an embodiment, the programming language of the source code is a purely declarative language that includes a constraint-based type system as described above.

Next, at step 710 the process continues with the contents of the post-processed definition being stored. In an embodiment, these contents are stored within an extensible storage abstraction, such as the extensible storage discussed with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4. It should also be noted that, although the source code of the model might be transformed, the declarative format of the code may be preserved in some embodiments.

The metadata describing the contents stored at step 710 is then included at step 720. The metadata defined at step 720 may include any of a plurality of attributes, including any of the aforementioned attributes discussed with respect to FIG. 3. In an embodiment, this metadata includes an extended catalog for installation into particular RDBMSs to augment their respective default catalogs.

Finally, at step 730, a file is created, which includes the metadata defined at step 720 and the contents stored at step 710. In one embodiment, this file is an image file, such as the image file described with respect to FIG. 3.

It should be appreciated that the packaging method described herein may also be operable with a programming language having an order-independent execution model. Similar to the aforementioned constraint-based execution model, such an order-independent execution model provides flexibility that is also particularly useful for programming across various RDBMSs.

In FIGS. 8-9, a data storage abstraction according to an ordered execution model is compared to a data storage abstraction according to an order-independent execution model consistent with an embodiment of the invention. For this particular example, data storage abstraction 800 represents a list Foo created by an ordered execution model, whereas data abstraction 900 represents a similar list Foo created by an order-independent execution model according to an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, each of data storage abstractions 800 and 900 include a set of three Bar values (i.e., “1”, “2”, and “3”). However, data storage abstraction 800 requires these Bar values to be entered/listed in a particular order, whereas data storage abstraction 900 has no such requirement. Instead, data storage abstraction 900 simply assigns an ID to each Bar value, wherein the order that these Bar values were entered/listed is unobservable to the targeted repository. Data storage abstraction 900 may have thus resulted from the following order-independent code:

f: Foo*={Bar=“1”};

f: Foo*={Bar=“2”};

f: Foo*={Bar=“3”};

However, data storage abstraction 900 may have also resulted from the following code:

f: Foo*={Bar=“3”};

f: Foo*={Bar=“1”};

f: Foo*={Bar=“2”};

And each of the two codes above may be functionally equivalent to the following code:

f: Foo*={{Bar=“2”}, {Bar=“3”}, {Bar=“1”}};

In FIG. 10, a flow diagram illustrating a process for packaging a post-processed definition of an order-independent execution model, according to an embodiment of the invention, is provided. As illustrated, the process begins at step 1000 where an order-independent execution model is received. Within such embodiment, the received execution model is a compiled post-processed definition of the model's source code. Contents of the post-processed definition may include the model's source code, along with any post-processed artifacts. In an embodiment, the programming language of the source code is a purely declarative language that includes an order-independent data storage model as described above.

Next, at step 1010 the process continues with the contents of the post-processed definition being configured. These contents may be configured into an extensible storage abstraction, such as the extensible storage discussed with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4. It should also be noted that, although the source code of the model might be transformed, the declarative format of the code may be preserved.

The metadata describing the contents configured at step 1010 is then included at step 1020. The metadata defined at step 1020 may include any of a plurality of attributes, including any of the aforementioned attributes discussed with respect to FIG. 3. In an embodiment, this metadata includes an extended catalog for installation into particular RDBMSs to augment their respective default catalogs.

Finally, at step 1030, a file is created, which includes the metadata defined at step 1020 and the contents configured at step 1010. In some embodiments, this file is an image file, such as the image file described with respect to FIG. 3.

Exemplary Programming Language

An exemplary declarative language that is compatible with the scope and spirit of the present invention is the M programming language (hereinafter “M”), which was developed by the assignee of the present invention. However, in addition to M, it is to be understood that other similar programming languages may be used, and that the utility of the invention is not limited to any single programming language. It should be further understood that, because M is an evolving newly developed programming language, the particular syntaxes in the exemplary codes provided herein may vary with future syntaxes without departing from the scope and spirit of the subject application. A brief description of M is provided below.

M is a simple declarative language for working with data. M lets users determine how they want to structure and query their data using a convenient textual syntax that is both authorable and readable. An M program consists of one or more source files, known formally as compilation units, wherein the source file is an ordered sequence of Unicode characters. Source files typically have a one-to-one correspondence with files in a file system, but this correspondence is not required. For maximal portability, it is recommended that files in a file system be encoded with the UTF-8 encoding.

Conceptually speaking, an M program is compiled using four steps: 1) Lexical analysis, which translates a stream of Unicode input characters into a stream of tokens (Lexical analysis evaluates and executes preprocessing directives); 2) Syntactic analysis, which translates the stream of tokens into an abstract syntax tree; 3) Semantic analysis, which resolves all symbols in the abstract syntax tree, type checks the structure and generates a semantic graph; and 4) Code generation, which generates executable instructions from the semantic graph for some target runtime (e.g. SQL, producing an image). Further tools may link images and load them into a runtime.

M doesn't mandate how data is stored or accessed, nor does it mandate a specific implementation technology. Rather, M was designed to allow users to write down what they want from their data without having to specify how those desires are met against a given technology or platform. That stated, M in no way prohibits implementations from providing rich declarative or imperative support for controlling how M constructs are represented and executed in a given environment.

M builds on three basic concepts: values, types, and extents. Hereinafter, these three concepts are defined as follows: 1) A value is simply data that conforms to the rules of the M language, 2) A type describes a set of values, and 3) An extent provides dynamic storage for values.

In general, M separates the typing of data from the storage/extent of the data. A given type can be used to describe data from multiple extents as well as to describe the results of a calculation. This allows users to start writing down types first and decide where to put or calculate the corresponding values later.

On the topic of determining where to put values, the M language does not specify how an implementation maps a declared extent to an external store such as an RDBMS. However, M was designed to make such implementations possible and is compatible with the relational model.

One other important aspect of data management that M does not address is that of update. M is a functional language that does not have constructs for changing the contents of an extent. How data changes is outside the scope of the language, however again, M anticipates that the contents of an extent can change via external (to M) stimuli. Subsequent versions of M are expected to provide declarative constructs for updating data.

It is often desirable to write down how to categorize values for the purposes of validation or allocation. In M, values are categorized using types, wherein an M type describes a collection of acceptable or conformant values. Moreover, M types are used to constrain which values may appear in a particular context (e.g., an operand, a storage location).

With a few notable exceptions, M allows types to be used as collections. For example, the “in” operator can be used to test whether a value conforms to a given type, such as:

1 in Number

“Hello, world” in Text

It should be noted that the names of built-in types are available directly in the M language. New names for types, however, may also be introduced using type declarations. For example, the type declaration below introduces the type name “My Text” as a synonym for the “Text” simple type:

type [My Text]: Text;

With this type name now available, the following code may be written:

“Hello, world” in [My Text]

While it is moderately useful to introduce custom names for an existing type, it's far more useful to apply a predicate to an underlying type, such as:

type SmallText: Text where value.Count<7;

In this example, the universe of possible “Text” values has been constrained to those in which the value contains less than seven characters. Accordingly, the following statements hold true:

“Terse” in SmallText

!(“Verbose” in SmallText)

Type declarations compose:

type TinyText: SmallText where value.Count<6;

However, in this example, this declaration is equivalent to the following:

type TinyText: Text where value.Count<6;

It is important to note that the name of the type exists simply so an M declaration or expression can refer to it. Any number of names can be assigned to the same type (e.g., Text where value.Count<7) and a given value either conforms to all of them or to none of them. For example, consider this example:

type A: Number where value<100;

type B: Number where value<100:

Given these two type definitions, both of the following expressions:

1 in A

1 in B

will evaluate to true. If the following third type is introduced:

type C: Number where value>0;

the following can also be stated:

1 in C

A general principle of M is that a given value may conform to any number of types. This is a departure from the way many object-based systems work, in which a value is bound to a specific type at initialization-time and is a member of the finite set of subtypes that were specified when the type was defined.

Another type-related operation that bears discussion is the type ascription operator (:). The type ascription operator asserts that a given value conforms to a specific type.

In general, when values in expressions are seen, M has some notion of the expected type of that value based on the declared result type for the operator/function being applied. For example, the result of the logical and operator (&&) is declared to be conformant with type “Logical.”

It is occasionally useful (or even required) to apply additional constraints to a given value—typically to use that value in another context that has differing requirements. For example, consider the following simple type definition:

type SuperPositive: Number where value>5;

And let's now assume that there's a function named “CalcIt” that is declared to accept a value of type “SuperPositive” as an operand. It would be desirable for M to allow expressions like this:

CalcIt(20)

CalcIt(42+99)

and prohibit expressions like this:

CalcIt(−1)

CalcIt(4)

In fact, M does exactly what is wanted for these four examples. This is because these expressions express their operands in terms of simple built-in operators over constants. All of the information needed to determine the validity of the expressions is readily and cheaply available the moment the M source text for the expression is encountered.

However, if the expression draws upon dynamic sources of data and/or user-defined functions, the type ascription operator must be used to assert that a value will conform to a given type.

To understand how the type ascription operator works with values, let's assume that there is a second function, “GetVowelCount,” that is declared to accept an operand of type “Text” and return a value of type “Number” that indicates the number of vowels in the operand.

Since it cannot be known based on the declaration of “GetVowelCount” whether its results will be greater than five or not, the following expression is not a legal M expression:

CalcIt(GetVowelCount(someTextVariable))

Because the declared result type (Number) of “GetVowelCount” includes values that do not conform to the declared operand type of “CalcIt” (SuperPositive), M assumes that this expression was written in error and will refuse to even attempt to evaluate the expression.

When this expression is rewritten to the following (legal) expression using the type ascription operator:

CalcIt((GetVowelCount(someTextVariable): SuperPositive))

M is essentially being told that there is enough understanding of the “GetVowelCount” function to know that a value that conforms to the type “SuperPositive” will always be returned. In short, the programmer is telling M that he/she knows what it is doing.

But what if the programmer does not know? What if the programmer misjudged how the “GetVowelCount” function works and a particular evaluation results in a negative number? Because the “CalcIt” function was declared to only accept values that conform to “SuperPositive,” the system will ensure that all values passed to it are greater than five. To ensure this constraint is never violated, the system may need to inject a dynamic constraint test that has a potential to fail when evaluated. This failure will not occur when the M source text is first processed (as was the case with CalcIt(−1))—rather it will occur when the expression is actually evaluated.

Here, the general principle at play is as follows. M implementations will typically attempt to report any constraint violations before the first expression in an M document is evaluated. This is called static enforcement and implementations will manifest this much like a syntax error. However, some constraints can only be enforced against live data and therefore require dynamic enforcement.

In general, the M philosophy is to make it easy for users to write down their intention and put the burden on the M implementation to “make it work.” However, to allow a particular M document to be used in diverse environments, a fully featured M implementation should be configurable to reject M documents that rely on dynamic enforcement for correctness in order to reduce the performance and operational costs of dynamic constraint violations.

M also defines a type constructor for specifying collection types. The collection type constructor restricts the type and count of elements a collection may contain. All collection types are restrictions over the intrinsic type “Collection,” which all collection values conform to:

{ } in Collection

{1, false} in Collection

!(“Hello” in Collection)

The last example is interesting in that it demonstrates that the collection types do not overlap with the simple types. There is no value that conforms to both a collection type and a simple type.

A collection type constructor specifies both the type of element and the acceptable element count. The element count is typically specified using one of the three operators:

T*—zero or more Ts

T+—one or more Ts

T#m . . . n—between m and n Ts.

The collection type constructors can either use Kleene operators or be written longhand as a constraint over the intrinsic type Collection—that is, the following two type declarations describe the same set of collection values:

type SomeNumbers: Number+;

type TwoToFourNumbers: Number#2 . . . 4;

type ThreeNumbers: Number#3;

type FourOrMoreNumbers: Number#4 . . . ;

These types describe the same sets of values as these longhand definitions:

-   -   type SomeNumbers: Collection where value.Count>=1         -   && item in Number;     -   type TwoToFourNumbers: Collection where value.Count>=2         -   && value.Count<=4         -   && item in Number;     -   type ThreeNumbers: Collection where value.Count==3         -   && item in Number;     -   type FourOrMoreNumbers: Collection where value.Count>=4         -   && item in Number;

Independent of which form is used to declare the types, the following can now be asserted:

!({ } in TwoToFourNumbers)

!({“One”, “Two”, “Three”} in TwoToFourNumbers)

{1, 2, 3} in TwoToFourNumbers

{1, 2, 3} in ThreeNumbers

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5} in FourOrMoreNumbers

The collection type constructors compose with the “where” operator, allowing the following type check to succeed:

{1, 2} in (Number where value<3)* where value.Count % 2==0

note that the inner “where” operator applies to elements of the collection, and the outer “where” operator applies to the collection itself.

Just as collection type constructors can be used to specify what kinds of collections are valid in a given context, the same can be done for entities using entity types.

An entity type declares the expected members for a set of entity values. The members of an entity type can be declared either as fields or as calculated values. The value of a field is stored; the value of a calculated value is computed. All entity types are restrictions over the Entity type, which is defined in the M standard library.

Here is the simplest entity type:

type MyEntity: Language.Entity;

The type “MyEntity” does not declare any fields. In M, entity types are open in that entity values that conform to the type may contain fields whose names are not declared in the type. That means that the following type test:

{X=100, Y=200} in MyEntity

will evaluate to true, as the “MyEntity” type says nothing about fields named X and Y.

Most entity types contain one or more field declarations. At a minimum, a field declaration states the name of the expected field:

type Point {X; Y;}

This type definition describes the set of entities that contain at least fields named X and Y irrespective of the values of those fields. That means that the following type tests:

{ X = 100, Y = 200 } in Point { X = 100, Y = 200, Z = 300 } in Point // more fields than expected OK ! ({ X = 100 } in Point) // not enough fields - not OK { X = true, Y = “Hello, world” } in Point will all evaluate to true.

The last example demonstrates that the “Point” type does not constrain the values of the X and Y fields—any value is allowed. A new type that constrains the values of X and Y to numeric values can now be written:

type NumericPoint { X : Number; Y : Number where value > 0; }

Note that type ascription syntax is used to assert that the value of the X and Y fields must conform to the type “Number.” With this in place, the following expressions:

{X=100, Y=200} in NumericPoint

{X=100, Y=200, Z=300} in NumericPoint

!({X=true, Y=“Hello, world”} in NumericPoint)

!({X=0, Y=0} in NumericPoint)

all evaluate to true.

As was seen in the discussion of simple types, the name of the type exists only so that M declarations and expressions can refer to it. That is why both of the following type tests succeed:

{X=100, Y=200} in NumericPoint

{X=100, Y=200} in Point

even though the definitions of NumericPoint and Point are independent.

Fields in M are named units of storage that hold values. M allows you to initialize the value of a field as part of an entity initializer. However, M does not specify any mechanism for changing the value of a field once it is initialized. In M, it is assumed that any changes to field values happen outside the scope of M.

A field declaration can indicate that there is a default value for the field. Field declarations that have a default value do not require conformant entities to have a corresponding field specified (such field declarations are sometimes called optional fields). For example, consider this type definition:

type Point3d { X : Number; Y : Number; Z = −1 : Number; // default value of negative one }

Because the Z field has a default value, the following type test will succeed:

{X=100, Y=200} in Point3d

Moreover, if a type ascription operator is applied to the value:

({X=100, Y=200}: Point3d)

the Z Field can now be accessed like this:

({X=100, Y=200}: Point3d).Z

This expression will yield the value−1.

If a field declaration does not have a corresponding default value, conformant entities must specify a value for that field. Default values are typically written down using the explicit syntax shown for the Z field of “Point3d.” If the type of a field is either nullable or a zero-to-many collection, then there is an implicit default value for the declaring field of null for optional and { } for the collection.

For example, consider this type:

type PointND { X : Number; Y : Number; Z : Number?; // Z is optional BeyondZ : Number*; // BeyondZ is optional too }

Again, the following type test will succeed:

{X=100, Y=200} in PointND

and ascribing the “PointND” to the value will allow these defaults to be obtained:

({X=100, Y=200}: PointND).Z==null

({X=100, Y=200}: PointND).BeyondZ=={ }

The choice of using a zero-to-one collection or nullable type vs. an explicit default value to model optional fields typically comes down to style.

Calculated values are named expressions whose values are calculated rather than stored. An example of a type that declares such a calculated value is:

type PointPlus { X : Number; Y : Number; // a calculated value IsHigh( ) : Logical { Y > 0; } } Note that unlike field declarations which end in a semicolon, calculated value declarations end with the expression surrounded by braces.

Like field declarations, a calculated value declaration may omit the type ascription, as this example does:

type PointPlus { X : Number; Y : Number; // a calculated value with no type ascription InMagicQuadrant( ) { IsHigh && X > 0; } IsHigh( ) : Logical { Y > 0; } }

When no type is explicitly ascribed to a calculated value, M will infer the type automatically based on the declared result type of the underlying expression. In this example, because the logical and operator used in the expression was declared as returning a “Logical,” the “InMagicQuadrant” calculated value also is ascribed to yield a “Logical” value.

The two calculated values just defined and used did not require any additional information to calculate their results other than the entity value itself. A calculated value may optionally declare a list of named parameters whose actual values must be specified when using the calculated value in an expression. Here's an example of a calculated value that requires parameters:

type PointPlus { X : Number; Y : Number; // a calculated value that requires a parameter WithinBounds(radius : Number) : Logical { X * X + Y * Y <= radius * radius; } InMagicQuadrant( ) { IsHigh && X > 0; } IsHigh( ) : Logical { Y > 0; } }

To use this calculated value in an expression, one must provide values for the two parameters:

({X=100, Y=200}: PointPlus).WithinBounds(50)

When calculating the value of “WithinBounds,” M will bind the value 50 to the symbol radius—this will cause the “WithinBounds” calculated value to evaluate to false.

It is useful to note that both calculated values and default values for fields are part of the type definition, not part of the values that conform to the type. For example, consider these three type definitions:

type Point { X : Number; Y : Number; } type RichPoint { X : Number; Y : Number; Z = −1 : Number; IsHigh( ) : Logical { X < Y; } } type WeirdPoint { X : Number; Y : Number; Z = 42 : Number; IsHigh( ) : Logical { false; } }

Because RichPoint and WeirdPoint only have two required fields (X and Y), the following can be stated:

{X=1, Y=2} in RichPoint

{X=1, Y=2} in WeirdPoint

However, the “IsHigh” calculated value is only available when one of these two types to the entity value are ascribed:

({X=1, Y=2}: RichPoint).IsHigh==true

({X=1, Y=2}: WeirdPoint).IsHigh==false

Because the calculated value is purely part of the type and not the value, when the ascription is chained like this:

(({X=1, Y=2}: RichPoint): WeirdPoint).IsHigh==false

its the outer-most ascription that determines which function is called.

A similar principle is at play with respect to how default values work. Again, the default value is part of the type, not the entity value. When the following expression is written:

({X=1, Y=2}: RichPoint).Z==−1

the underlying entity value still only contains two field values (1 and 2 for X and Y respectively). Where default values differ from calculated values is when ascriptions are chained. For example, consider the following expression:

(({X=1, Y=2}: RichPoint): WeirdPoint).Z==−1

Because the “RichPoint” ascription is applied first, the resultant entity has a field named Z whose value is −1, however, there is no storage allocated for the value (it's part of the type's interpretation of the value). When the “WeirdPoint” ascription is applied, the result of the first ascription is being applied, which does have a field named Z, so that value is used to specify the value for Z—the default value specified by “WeirdPoint” is not needed.

Like all types, a constraint may be applied to an entity type using the “where” operator. Consider the following type definition:

type HighPoint { X : Number; Y : Number; } where X < Y;

In this example, all values that conform to the type “HighPoint” are guaranteed to have an X value that is less than the Y value. That means that the following expressions:

{X=100, Y=200} in HighPoint

!({X=300, Y=200} in HighPoint)

both evaluate to true

Now consider the following type definitions:

type Point { X : Number; Y : Number; } type Visual { Opacity : Number; } type VisualPoint { DotSize : Number; } where value in Point && value in Visual; The third type, “VisualPoint,” names the set of entity values that have at least the numeric fields X, Y, Opacity, and DotSize.

Because it is a common desire to factor member declarations into smaller pieces that can be easily composed, M provides explicit syntax support for this. The “VisualPoint” type definition can be rewritten using that syntax:

type VisualPoint : Point, Visual { DotSize : Number; }

To be clear, this is just shorthand for the long-hand definition above that used a constraint expression. Both of these definitions are equivalent to this even longer-hand definition:

type VisualPoint = { X : Number; Y : Number; Opacity : Number; DotSize : Number; }

Again, the names of the types are just ways to refer to types—the values themselves have no record of the type names used to describe them.

M also extends LINQ query comprehensions with several features to make authoring simple queries more concise. The keywords, “where” and “select” are available as binary infix operators. Also, indexers are automatically added to strongly typed collections. These features allow common queries to be authored more compactly as illustrated below.

As an example of where as an infix operator, this query extracts people under 30 from the “People” collection defined above:

from p in People

where p.Age=30

select p

An equivalent query can be written:

People where value.Age=30

The “where” operator takes a collection on the left and a Boolean expression on the right. The “where” operator introduces a keyword identifier value in to the scope of the Boolean expression that is bound to each member of the collection. The resulting collection contains the members for which the expression is true. The expression:

Collection where Expression

is exactly equivalent to:

from value in Collection

where Expression

select value

The M compiler adds indexer members on collections with strongly typed elements. For the collection “People,” the compiler adds indexers for “First(Text),” “Last(Text),” and “Age(Number).”

Collection. Field (Expression)

is equivalent to:

from value in Collection

where Field==Expression

select value

“Select” is also available as an infix operator. Consider the following simple query:

from p in People

select p.First+p.Last

This computes the “select” expression over each member of the collection and returns the result. Using the infix “select” it can be written equivalently as:

People select value.First+value.Last

The “select” operator takes a collection on the left and an arbitrary expression on the right. As with “where,” “select” introduces the keyword identifier value that ranges over each element in the collection. The “select” operator maps the expression over each element in the collection and returns the result. The expression:

Collection select Expression

is exactly equivalent to:

from value in Collection

select Expression

A trivial use of the “select” operator is to extract a single field:

People select value.First

The compiler adds accessors to the collection so single fields can be extracted directly as “People.First” and “People.Last.”

To write a legal M document, all source text must appear in the context of a module definition. A module defines a top-level namespace for any type names that are defined. A module also defines a scope for defining extents that will store actual values, as well as calculated values.

Here is a simple module definition:

module Geometry { // declare a type type Point { X : Integer; Y : Integer; } // declare some extents Points : Point*; Origin : Point; // declare a calculated value TotalPointCount { Points.Count + 1; } }

In this example, the module defines one type named “Geometry.Point.” This type describes what point values will look like, but doesn't mention any locations where those values can be stored.

This example also includes two module-scoped fields (Points and Origin). Module-scoped field declarations are identical in syntax to those used in entity types. However, fields declared in an entity type simply name the potential for storage once an extent has been determined; in contrast fields declared at module-scope name actual storage that must be mapped by an implementation in order to load and interpret the module.

Modules may refer to declarations in other modules by using an import directive to name the module containing the referenced declarations. For a declaration to be referenced by other modules, the declaration must be explicitly exported using an export directive.

For example, consider this module:

module MyModule { import HerModule; // declares HerType export MyType1; export MyExtent1; type MyType1 : Logical*; type MyType2 : HerType; MyExtent1 : Number*; MyExtent2 : HerType; } Note that only “MyType1” and “MyExtent1” are visible to other modules. This makes the following definition of “HerModule” legal:

module HerModule { import MyModule; // declares MyType1 and MyExtent1 export HerType; type HerType : Text where value.Count < 100; type Private : Number where !(value in MyExtent1); SomeStorage : MyType1; } As this example shows, modules may have circular dependencies.

The types of the M language are divided into two main categories: intrinsic types and derived types. An intrinsic type is a type that cannot be defined using M language constructs but rather is defined entirely in the M Language Specification. An intrinsic type may name at most one intrinsic type as its super-type as part of its specification. Values are an instance of exactly one intrinsic type, and conform to the specification of that one intrinsic type and all of its super types.

A derived type is a type whose definition is constructed in M source text using the type constructors that are provided in the language. A derived type is defined as a constraint over another type, which creates an explicit subtyping relationship. Values conform to any number of derived types simply by virtue of satisfying the derived type's constraint. There is no a priori affiliation between a value and a derived type—rather a given value that conforms to a derived type's constraint may be interpreted as that type at will.

M offers a broad range of options in defining types. Any expression which returns a collection can be declared as a type. The type predicates for entities and collections are expressions and fit this form. A type declaration may explicitly enumerate its members or be composed of other types.

M is a structurally typed language rather than a nominally typed language. A type in M is a specification for a set of values. Two types are the same if the exact same collection of values conforms to both regardless of the name of the types. It is not required that a type be named to be used. A type expression is allowed wherever a type reference is required. Types in M are simply expressions that return collections.

If every value that conforms to type A also conforms to type B, it can be said that A is a subtype of B (and that B is a super-type of A). Subtyping is transitive, that is, if A is a subtype of B and B is a subtype of C, then A is a subtype of C (and C is a super-type of A). Subtyping is reflexive, that is, A is a (vacuous) subtype of A (and A is a super-type of A).

Types are considered collections of all values that satisfy the type predicate. For that reason, any operation on a collection can be applied to a type and a type can be manipulated with expressions like any other collection value.

M provides two primary means for values to come into existence: computed values and stored values (a.k.a. fields). Computed and stored values may occur with both module and entity declarations and are scoped by their container. A computed value is derived from evaluating an expression that is typically defined as part of M source text. In contrast, a field stores a value and the contents of the field may change over time.

Exemplary Networked and Distributed Environments

One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the various embodiments for packaging a declarative post-processed definition described herein can be implemented in connection with any computer or other client or server device, which can be deployed as part of a computer network or in a distributed computing environment, and can be connected to any kind of data store. In this regard, the various embodiments described herein can be implemented in any computer system or environment having any number of memory or storage units, and any number of applications and processes occurring across any number of storage units. This includes, but is not limited to, an environment with server computers and client computers deployed in a network environment or a distributed computing environment, having remote or local storage.

Distributed computing provides sharing of computer resources and services by communicative exchange among computing devices and systems. These resources and services include the exchange of information, cache storage and disk storage for objects, such as files. These resources and services also include the sharing of processing power across multiple processing units for load balancing, expansion of resources, specialization of processing, and the like. Distributed computing takes advantage of network connectivity, allowing clients to leverage their collective power to benefit the entire enterprise. In this regard, a variety of devices may have applications, objects or resources that may cooperate to perform one or more aspects of any of the various embodiments of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 11 provides a schematic diagram of an exemplary networked or distributed computing environment. The distributed computing environment comprises computing objects 1110, 1112, etc. and computing objects or devices 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc., which may include programs, methods, data stores, programmable logic, etc., as represented by applications 1130, 1132, 1134, 1136, 1138. It can be appreciated that objects 1110, 1112, etc. and computing objects or devices 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc. may comprise different devices, such as PDAs, audio/video devices, mobile phones, MP3 players, personal computers, laptops, etc.

Each object 1110, 1112, etc. and computing objects or devices 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc. can communicate with one or more other objects 1110, 1112, etc. and computing objects or devices 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc. by way of the communications network 1140, either directly or indirectly. Even though illustrated as a single element in FIG. 11, network 1140 may comprise other computing objects and computing devices that provide services to the system of FIG. 11, and/or may represent multiple interconnected networks, which are not shown. Each object 1110, 1112, etc. or 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc. can also contain an application, such as applications 1130, 1132, 1134, 1136, 1138, that might make use of an API, or other object, software, firmware and/or hardware, suitable for communication with, processing for, or implementation of the column based encoding and query processing provided in accordance with various embodiments of the subject disclosure.

There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurations that support distributed computing environments. For example, computing systems can be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by local networks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many networks are coupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widely distributed computing and encompasses many different networks, though any network infrastructure can be used for exemplary communications made incident to the column based encoding and query processing as described in various embodiments.

Thus, a host of network topologies and network infrastructures, such as client/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures, can be utilized. The “client” is a member of a class or group that uses the services of another class or group to which it is not related. A client can be a process, i.e., roughly a set of instructions or tasks, that requests a service provided by another program or process. The client process utilizes the requested service without having to “know” any working details about the other program or the service itself.

In a client/server architecture, particularly a networked system, a client is usually a computer that accesses shared network resources provided by another computer, e.g., a server. In the illustration of FIG. 11, as a non-limiting example, computers 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc. can be thought of as clients and computers 1110, 1112, etc. can be thought of as servers where servers 1110, 1112, etc. provide data services, such as receiving data from client computers 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc., storing of data, processing of data, transmitting data to client computers 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc., although any computer can be considered a client, a server, or both, depending on the circumstances. Any of these computing devices may be processing data, encoding data, querying data or requesting services or tasks that may implicate the column based encoding and query processing as described herein for one or more embodiments.

A server is typically a remote computer system accessible over a remote or local network, such as the Internet or wireless network infrastructures. The client process may be active in a first computer system, and the server process may be active in a second computer system, communicating with one another over a communications medium, thus providing distributed functionality and allowing multiple clients to take advantage of the information-gathering capabilities of the server. Any software objects utilized pursuant to the column based encoding and query processing can be provided standalone, or distributed across multiple computing devices or objects.

In a network environment in which the communications network/bus 1140 is the Internet, for example, the servers 1110, 1112, etc. can be Web servers with which the clients 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc. communicate via any of a number of known protocols, such as the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Servers 1110, 1112, etc. may also serve as clients 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1128, etc., as may be characteristic of a distributed computing environment.

Exemplary Computing Device

As mentioned, advantageously, the techniques described herein can be applied to any device where it is desirable to query large amounts of data quickly. It should be understood, therefore, that handheld, portable and other computing devices and computing objects of all kinds are contemplated for use in connection with the various embodiments, i.e., anywhere that a device may wish to scan or process huge amounts of data for fast and efficient results. Accordingly, the below general purpose remote computer described below in FIG. 12 is but one example of a computing device.

Although not required, embodiments can partly be implemented via an operating system, for use by a developer of services for a device or object, and/or included within application software that operates to perform one or more functional aspects of the various embodiments described herein. Software may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by one or more computers, such as client workstations, servers or other devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer systems have a variety of configurations and protocols that can be used to communicate data, and thus, no particular configuration or protocol should be considered limiting.

FIG. 12 thus illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment 1200 in which one or aspects of the embodiments described herein can be implemented, although as made clear above, the computing system environment 1200 is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to scope of use or functionality. Neither should the computing environment 1200 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplary operating environment 1200.

With reference to FIG. 12, an exemplary remote device for implementing one or more embodiments includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a computer 1210. Components of computer 1210 may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit 1220, a system memory 1230, and a system bus 1222 that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit 1220.

Computer 1210 typically includes a variety of computer readable media and can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 1210. The system memory 1230 may include computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) and/or random access memory (RAM). By way of example, and not limitation, memory 1230 may also include an operating system, application programs, other program modules, and program data.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1210 through input devices 1240. A monitor or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 1222 via an interface, such as output interface 1250. In addition to a monitor, computers can also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers and a printer, which may be connected through output interface 1250.

The computer 1210 may operate in a networked or distributed environment using logical connections to one or more other remote computers, such as remote computer 1270. The remote computer 1270 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, or any other remote media consumption or transmission device, and may include any or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 1210. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 12 include a network 1272, such local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but may also include other networks/buses. Such networking environments are commonplace in homes, offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

As mentioned above, while exemplary embodiments have been described in connection with various computing devices and network architectures, the underlying concepts may be applied to any network system and any computing device or system in which it is desirable to compress large scale data or process queries over large scale data.

Also, there are multiple ways to implement the same or similar functionality, e.g., an appropriate API, tool kit, driver code, operating system, control, standalone or downloadable software object, etc. which enables applications and services to use the efficient encoding and querying techniques. Thus, embodiments herein are contemplated from the standpoint of an API (or other software object), as well as from a software or hardware object that provides column based encoding and/or query processing. Thus, various embodiments described herein can have aspects that are wholly in hardware, partly in hardware and partly in software, as well as in software.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, for the avoidance of doubt, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word without precluding any additional or other elements.

As mentioned, the various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. As used herein, the terms “component,” “system” and the like are likewise intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on computer and the computer can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.

The aforementioned systems have been described with respect to interaction between several components. It can be appreciated that such systems and components can include those components or specified sub-components, some of the specified components or sub-components, and/or additional components, and according to various permutations and combinations of the foregoing. Sub-components can also be implemented as components communicatively coupled to other components rather than included within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, it should be noted that one or more components may be combined into a single component providing aggregate functionality or divided into several separate sub-components, and that any one or more middle layers, such as a management layer, may be provided to communicatively couple to such sub-components in order to provide integrated functionality. Any components described herein may also interact with one or more other components not specifically described herein but generally known by those of skill in the art.

In view of the exemplary systems described supra, methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the described subject matter will be better appreciated with reference to the flowcharts of the various figures. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and described herein. Where non-sequential, or branched, flow is illustrated via flowchart, it can be appreciated that various other branches, flow paths, and orders of the blocks, may be implemented which achieve the same or a similar result. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies described hereinafter.

In addition to the various embodiments described herein, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the described embodiment(s) for performing the same or equivalent function of the corresponding embodiment(s) without deviating therefrom. Still further, multiple processing chips or multiple devices can share the performance of one or more functions described herein, and similarly, storage can be effected across a plurality of devices. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth, spirit and scope in accordance with the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: compiling declarative source code into a post-processed definition that includes a compiled transformation of the declarative source code in which a declarative format is preserved; and packaging the post-processed definition as an image file that preserves the declarative format in an extensible storage abstraction, wherein the image file includes the extensible storage abstraction, the extensible storage abstraction stores at least one artifact of the compiled transformation, and the extensible storage abstraction includes a plurality of tables having a plurality of table entries that store the post-processed definition.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the declarative source code includes contents of a constraint-based execution model, and wherein a particular value within the constraint-based execution model is conformable with all types in which the particular value does not violate a constraint codified in a type declaration.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the declarative source code is order-independent code in which an order of entering values into a data abstraction of the declarative source code is unobservable to a target repository.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising deploying the image file to at least one repository.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining an extended catalog.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining an interdependency with a programming module.
 7. The method of claim 1, the packaging including storing runtime artifacts together with the compiled transformation.
 8. The method of claim 1, the packaging including storing design-time artifacts together with the compiled transformation.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the image file further includes metadata describing attributes of contents stored in the extensible storage abstraction.
 10. A computing device, including: a memory and a processor that are respectively configured to store and execute instructions, including instructions for causing the computing device to perform operations, the operations including: receiving a post-processed definition of declarative source code, the post-processed definition including a compiled transformation of the declarative source code in which a declarative format is preserved; and packaging the post-processed definition as an image file that preserves the declarative format in an extensible storage abstraction, wherein the image file includes the extensible storage abstraction, the extensible storage abstraction stores at least one artifact of the compiled transformation, and the extensible storage abstraction includes a plurality of tables having a plurality of table entries that store the post-processed definition.
 11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the declarative source code includes contents of a constraint-based execution model, and wherein a particular value within the constraint-based execution model is conformable with all types in which the particular value does not violate a constraint codified in a type declaration.
 12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the declarative source code is order-independent code in which an order of entering values into a data abstraction of the declarative source code is unobservable to a target repository.
 13. The computing device of claim 10, at least one of the plurality of entries representing a reference identifier.
 14. The computing device of claim 10, at least one of the plurality of entries depending on at least one other entry.
 15. The computing device of claim 10, the extensible storage abstraction comprising a header and manifest section.
 16. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the image file further includes metadata describing attributes of contents stored in the extensible storage abstraction.
 17. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the also include: receiving a portion of the post-processed definition from any of a plurality of repositories.
 18. A computer-readable storage memory having computer-readable instructions stored therein, the computer-readable instructions including instructions for performing the following acts: receiving a post-processed definition of declarative source code, the post-processed definition including a compiled transformation of the declarative source code in which a declarative format is preserved; and packaging the post-processed definition as an image file that preserves the declarative format in an extensible storage abstraction, wherein the image file includes the extensible storage abstraction, the extensible storage abstraction stores at least one artifact of the compiled transformation, and the extensible storage abstraction includes a plurality of tables having a plurality of entries that store the post-processed definition.
 19. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 18, wherein the declarative source code includes contents of a constraint-based execution model, and wherein a particular value within the constraint-based execution model is conformable with all types in which the particular value does not violate a constraint codified in a type declaration.
 20. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 18, wherein the declarative source code is order-independent code in which an order of entering values into a data abstraction of the declarative source code is unobservable to a target repository. 